


Something Unexpected

by j0ell0, MockingStandards, SilverNyxa



Category: Firebringer - Team StarKid
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Hogwarts AU, Slow Burn, the tags are going to change over time, we couldn't help it we're too gay, we're not sure how long this is going to be but for now it's a WIP, yeah her name is Zazzalil Armstrong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-04-08 07:33:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14100471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/j0ell0/pseuds/j0ell0, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MockingStandards/pseuds/MockingStandards, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverNyxa/pseuds/SilverNyxa
Summary: Zazzalil Armstrong hadn't expected this. She only planned on making a quick trip to Professor Snape’s storeroom, snagging a few supplies for her latest cauldron concoction, and then booking it back to the Gryffindor common room. Somehow, her mission had taken a detour, launching her into a newfound rivalry with the uptight, rule-following Hufflepuff prefect, Jemilla Paxton.





	1. Friday, November 10

**Author's Note:**

> We often complain about the lack of Jazzalil fanfiction, so we decided to write our own. Be the change you want to be in the world!
> 
> We try to update every two weeks, but we kinda suck at that so that's just what we aim for, but it'll probably be a little later. Also, we both like drawing stuff for the chapters so that takes more time as well.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What Zazzalil expected to be just a quick run to restock her ingredients ends up taking a rapid turn, all thanks to a particular Hufflepuff prefect.

 

                                                               

 

          The old wooden stairs leading down to the Gryffindor common room creaked as Zazzalil stepped down them, trying her best to not make a sound. She supposed she’d regret this later, but not at the moment. Too much adrenaline. It was nearing eleven pm, and having stayed up late the previous night as well, Zazzalil was filled with the sort of buzz that one only gets from a lack of sleep. Resting was the last thing on her mind, however. Not when she was this close. Just a little more work and she’d have perfected her latest potion. Which would explain why she found herself sneaking out of her dorm past curfew. Up until this point, she had been able to create her concoctions using her own supply of ingredients. But, after a recent… mishap… she found her stock a bit more sparse than usual. So, Zazzalil decided, she’d make a trip down to Snape’s personal storeroom in his classroom and “borrow” some. It’s not like he’d notice, right? After all, the old geezer probably had too many bottles of creepy eyeballs or whatever to even keep track of them.

          It had, of course, occurred to Zazzalil that she could just head on down to Hogsmeade and restock her supply herself, but after last weekend’s splurge at Honeydukes with Keeri, she reckoned it’d be best not to go throwing around her galleons like that. The candy that she had spent a majority of her allowance on hadn’t even lasted her more than a day. At least the sugar from the Jelly Slugs and Chocolate Cauldrons had gotten her through, yet another, all-nighter. She was honestly shocked she hadn’t yet collapsed from exhaustion. Keeri was always chastising her for the lack of sleep, but she was able to snag a couple hours in during certain boring classes. History of Magic, especially. Even with a full night of sleep under her belt, Zazzalil had trouble staying awake in that class. Professor Binns had yet to notice her napping in every single one of his classes. Or maybe he did, but decided not to call her out on it. Judging by the subject being taught, Zazzalil knew she wasn’t the only one nodding off.

          And so, here she was, traveling the halls, headed for Snape’s classroom. Holding her wand light tightly in front of her, Zazzalil made sure to tread carefully, not wanting to trip over any cracks in the floor. You’d think that having magic, the school’s administrators would have taken more heed to the state of the castle. Yet, their floors remained a health hazard, and their bathrooms were still as nasty as ever. One of the few things that Hogwarts and muggle schools had in common.

           Turning a corner, Zazzalil spotted the entrance to Snape’s classroom. She grinned in triumph, and quickened her pace. As she crossed the hallway, she spotted a faint light in the corner of her eye and cursed under her breath. So close.

          “Nox,” she mumbled hurriedly, extinguishing the illuminating spell from her wand.

          Ducking behind a pillar, Zazzalil stood as quietly as she could, hearing footsteps drawing nearer and nearer. But, much to her dismay, it was too late. The person had spotted her light just in time, and was headed towards her. Zazzalil briefly considered making a run for it, but she figured she would only get in even more trouble if she did. A head appeared from the other side of the stone pillar, and Zazzalil was able to see who it was: Jemilla Paxton, one of the Hufflepuff prefects.

           “Armstrong! What are you doing out of bed?” Jemilla demanded. Zazzalil racked her brain for a good excuse, but came up blank. Damn. “Seeing as it’s past curfew, I have no other choice than to turn you in.”

          “Wait, wait, wait!” Zazzalil’s eyes widened at the Hufflepuff’s words. “Can’t you just make an exception this one time?”

           “Sorry, Armstrong, you know the rules.” Raising her wand again, Jemilla started off down the corridor, pausing only to see if Zazzalil was following. Letting out a sigh, she reluctantly trailed after her.

 

           Jemilla knocked on the wooden door softly, but loud enough that anyone on the other side would hear. Within a few moments, the door swung open and a short, graying witch appeared. A fond look crossed Professor Sprout’s face as she spotted Jemilla, but quickly grew sour as she saw Zazzalil standing tentatively behind her. In her second year, Zazzalil may or may not have caused a ruckus in one of her Herbology classes, consisting of a bucket full of Leaping Toadstools and the curiosity of a young teenager. Long story short, it’s safe to say that she is not on Sprout’s list of favorite students.

          “Ah, Ms. Paxton! What have we here? Not a troublemaker, I hope.” Sprout stepped back, allowing them to enter her office, and shot a look at Zazzalil who just shrugged sheepishly.

           “I caught her sneaking around the dungeon near Professor Snape’s classroom while on my patrol,” Jemilla informed her.

           “Oh dear,” the squat woman said, shuffling back to her wooden desk which was littered with various pieces of parchment and herbology books. Behind it, a plush, comfortable-looking arm chair in the colors of Hufflepuff house. Shifting whatever she had been previously working on aside, Sprout sat at the desk and looked back up at the two fifth years. “Whatever for were you out past curfew?”

          “Uhh...I needed air?” Zazzalil stuttered out. Just as she didn’t have a reason five minutes ago, she didn’t have one now. Hopefully that half-assed excuse was enough to convince her.

           “Ah, well, I still have to give you some sort of punishment. Rules are rules, you know? Now, I understand that you play Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, correct?” Zazzalil nodded, not liking where this situation was headed. “I see it fit that you sit out on tomorrow's match.”

          “B-but this is the first game of the year for Gryffindor! We’re going against Slytherin! For the Quidditch Cup!” Zazzalil began to protest. Sprout held up her hand, dismissing her objections.

          “I’m sure the Gryffindor team will get on just fine without you there. Your substitute can replace you for this one match. You’ve still got the rest of the school year to participate,” Disgruntled, Zazzalil remained quiet but silently agreed. “Very well then. I will inform Professor McGonagall of the circumstances. Remember this the next time you decide to take a stroll after hours, Ms. Armstrong. You may return to your dorm room now. Jemilla will escort you, to make sure you don’t make any detours.”

          The walk back to the Gryffindor common room was a silent one. Too angered to make conversation, Zazzalil walked silently alongside Jemilla. Sure, it was awkward, but fuck that. Jemilla was the one who ratted her out in the first place. Now, she not only was short of potion ingredients, but also couldn’t compete in the Quidditch game. As if she’d want to make small talk with her. As they neared the portrait of the Fat Lady, Jemilla paused, grabbing Zazzalil to slow her.

           “I’m sorry, Armstrong… Zazzalil, I-” Jemilla started.

           “Save it, Paxton. I don’t want your pity. You can piss off,” Zazzalil interrupted, pulling her arm out of Jemilla’s grasp. Turning sharply, the Gryffindor stomped into the common room, the painting swinging shut behind her, leaving Jemilla standing alone in the dark hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [GIF](https://j0ell0.tumblr.com/post/172407137526/for-silvernyxa-and-my-fic-something-unexpected)
> 
> [Jo's Tumblr](https://j0ell0.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Nyxa's Tumblr](https://silvernyxa.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Something Unexpected Tumblr](https://something-unexpected-fic.tumblr.com/)   
> 


	2. Saturday, November 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Zazzalil faces the consequences of last night's events.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To see a stupid video Jo made of Zazzalil yelling at Jemilla, click on the link in the end notes.

                                                           

            “Jemilla. Fucking. Paxton.” With a huff, Zazzalil plopped down on the long, wooden bench beside Keeri. A few Hufflepuffs turned their gaze towards her but weren’t all that fazed. By this point in the school year, they had found themselves accustomed to Zazzalil abandoning her own house’s table for that of the badgers.

            “You’re up early,” Keeri mused in between spoonfuls of her oatmeal. Typically, Zazzalil would have dashed into the Great Hall at the last minute to grab a quick bite before the first classes of the morning began. But today was an odd day, apparently. It was only seven a.m., and breakfast would be lasting for another hour. Yet, here she was, angrily shoveling scrambled eggs into her mouth. Although she was still dressed in her clothes from the day before and wasn’t wearing any shoes, that’s a minor detail. “What’s up with Jemilla?”

            Zazzalil slammed her fork down, whipping her head towards the blonde. “She’s a fucking prick, that’s what.”

            “You sure? I mean, I dunno, she seems pretty nice to me,” Keeri responded, raising her eyebrows. Having been best friends with Zazzalil since practically the womb, she was used to her and her dramatics. It wasn’t unusual for her to rant about whatever, or whoever, was pissing her off that day. No matter how small the issue may have seemed to others. “She is a prefect, after all, Zazz.”

            “That’s why she’s the worst, Keeri! She got me banned from playing in the Quidditch match today!” A tilted head from the Hufflepuff prompted her to explain. “I was out at night and she caught me.”

            “I’m just saying but...that seems like it’s your fault.”

            She groaned at Keeri’s words. “You’re supposed to be on my side!”. Frustrated, Zazzalil let her head fall onto the table causing her empty plate to clatter. Keeri reached over and patted the top of her head, knowing that Zazzalil’s parents had done the same when the two of them were younger. Somehow, she had adopted the gesture as one of her own a few years ago.

            “Hey! Good morning, Jemilla! Excited for the match today?” Zazzalil’s head snapped up at the mention of Jemilla. Another Hufflepuff (Tiblyn, was that her name?) sitting at the far end of the bench was waving to Jemilla, her hand flailing in the air. Her gaze landed on the prefect, who had smiled back at Tiblyn and took the seat beside her, starting to reply about the Quidditch match. Although she was a Hufflepuff, many knew that Jemilla always eagerly supported the Slytherin team because of her siblings, who were both in that house. More specifically, Molag, who played chaser and was the team captain for the Serpents as well.

            Without a word, Zazzalil suddenly stood up, accidentally knocking over an empty goblet in the process, and began marching over.

            “Wait, Zazz, I don’t think you sh-” Keeri tried, but her friend was already out of earshot. As if she’d have listened anyway. Scrambling off of the bench, Keeri hurried after Zazzalil.

            Various plates and bowls rattled as Zazzalil slammed her hands down on the wooden table beside the Hufflepuff prefect, whose head snapped up to meet Zazzalil’s angry glare. Based on what Zazzalil had said last night, Jemilla probably already knew what this was about. Still, she remained silent, instead waiting for the Gryffindor to speak.

            “What the fuck, Paxton?” she snarled, eyes gleaming with rage. “What the actual fuck is up.”

            Jemilla shot Zazzalil a skeptic look. “Sorry, Armstrong, but I don’t believe I did anything wrong. I was just doing my job,” she gestured to the shiny prefect badge pinned to the front of her robes, “You were the one breaking the rules, remember? I merely turned you in. Professor Sprout was the one who banned you from today’s game.” Whatever sympathy that she had last night had disappeared, now replaced by irritation that was evident in her voice.

            “But you knew I’d receive _some_ sort of punishment!” Zazzalil lifted a hand off of the table, pointing her finger accusingly at Jemilla. To the side, Keeri attempted to stop her friend. But, much to her exasperation, Zazzalil continued, her voice rising as she did so, “You just wanted to give Slytherin an advantage! Everybody knows you always root for them since your sister’s the team captain!”

            Jemilla started to defend herself but was immediately cut off by Professor Snape who had seemingly appeared out of thin air. Both of them stared dumbfoundedly at the potions professor, his all-black attire magnifying the intimidating expression worn on his face.

            “What the devil is going on here?” he spoke in a monotonous voice, eyes flicking between the two students. Zazzalil stumbled over an answer, frantically trying to explain when Jemilla butted in.

            “Armstrong,” Jemilla shot a pointed look at Zazzalil. “was upset that I had caught her out after hours last night.”

            Snape glowered down at the two students. “Is that so? I will not have insufferable students causing a commotion in the Great Hall. Ten points from Gryffindor.” He paused and added as an afterthought, “And Hufflepuff as well. Return to your seats.” And with that, he disappeared just as quickly as he had arrived.

            Zazzalil shot one last glare at Jemilla, who, this time, returned it with a glare of her own, before pulling Keeri out of the Great Hall with her to get ready for the Quidditch game.

* * *

 

            Zazzalil fiddled with the sleeves of her Quidditch robes, listening to the typical ‘pre-match pep talk’ given by Liam Hawthorne, the Gryffindor team captain. Why did she even need to be here? It’s not like she’d be playing in the game. “Moral support”, more like “a reminder of her failures”. S.B. shooting her death glares from across the locker room didn’t help in the slightest. The two of them, and the rest of the team had been hyped for this match since the beginning of the year. She just had to go and screw it up. Granted, Chad, the stand-by for Chaser, was taking her place for today, but there was a reason he wasn't first picked in the tryouts.

            Immediately after the captain concluded his speech, S.B. stood up abruptly and marched up to Zazzalil, clutching his broom and bat tightly with white knuckles.

            “Nice going, Zazz,” he spat, towering over her with a frown. “The first game of the year! This is going to fuck up our chances at getting the Cup!” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “You know Chad ain’t shit.”

            She put up her hands in defense. “Okay, geez! Sorry! I didn’t think I’d get caught! Much less banned from the game!”

            “Yeah, well, you better fucking hope Chad doesn’t screw up” the Beater jerked a thumb at the fourth year boy behind him. Hearing Liam calling for the players to begin lining up for their entrance onto the Quidditch pitch, S.B. dropped his hand and gave Zazzalil another extremely exaggerated look of anger. He didn’t need to say it, the meaning behind his expression was already clear: don’t fuck up again. Zazzalil scowled at him, flipping him off as he stepped out onto the field along with the rest of the team.

            With the other members of the Gryffindor team gone, Zazzalil was left alone in the locker room. After unbuttoning her Quidditch robes and tossing it onto a nearby hook, she left the tent to go find Keeri. It wasn’t hard to find her best friend, taking only a couple of minutes. To her dismay, however, Jemilla and her brother, Ducker, were standing not too far away, cheering for their older sister. Despite none of them being biologically related, the three of them were as close as could be. Abandoning her usual Hufflepuff colors, Jemilla donned a Slytherin scarf as well as green and silver face paint. Ducker, meanwhile, had taken to wearing a big, silly hat. Standing at least a foot tall, the hat was made from what looked to be cardboard and paper. Not only that, a plush serpent’s head and tail stuck out of the top. It appeared to be hand-sewn, most likely by Jemilla. Between the two of them, they held a large poster with the words “GO MOLAG!!” written in bright green marker.

            Seeing Jemilla, irritation flared up inside Zazzalil. But, after having to endure all of her teammates’ disappointed looks, she would prefer not to start anything. Doing her best to pretend Jemilla wasn’t there, she headed over to where Keeri was watching the match.

            “Oh! You’re here!” Keeri looked up at Zazzalil, smiling. She patted the bench beside her. “I saved you a spot. Slytherin’s winning so far.”

            Sitting down, Zazzalil looked up into the sky. Towards the Gryffindor end of the pitch, Molag had just whizzed past Chad sitting idly on his broom and scored another shot into their hoop. “Yeah, I gathered that,” she grumbled, and continued to observe the game quietly.

            Half an hour later, Gryffindor had only scored twice and Slytherin was fifty points ahead. Throughout the match, various cheers from the Slytherins could be heard. Zazzalil followed the players intently, silently praying for their Seeker. If their Seeker could just manage to catch the snitch, they’d be saved from a devastating loss. Turning her attention to S.B., Zazzalil spotted him aiming a bludger at one of the Slytherin Beaters. The steel ball ricocheted off of his bat and came hurtling towards the player. By diving down, and nearly falling off his broom in the process, the Beater was able to narrowly dodge the Bludger. Instead, it crashed into a nearby Quidditch tower, sending planks of wood flying in every direction. Distracted by the sudden impact, the Slytherin Keeper missed a Quaffle flying by her head, earning Gryffindor ten more points. Now, they were only forty points behind, although still losing.

            A flash of gold zoomed by the stands, over the crowd’s heads. Many let out gasps, having seen the Snitch, and pointed as it fluttered around. Noticing the commotion, both Seekers zeroed in on the golden ball. Immediately, they leaned forward and accelerated on their brooms, attempting to beat the other to the Snitch.

            “Come on, come on,” Zazzalil muttered under her breath, bouncing her leg up and down anxiously. They _had_ to catch the Golden Snitch. They had to. Gusts of air whipped by the spectators as the two Seekers zoomed past, both neck and neck for the Snitch. Standing up suddenly, Zazzalil cupped her hands around her mouth. “Go get ‘em, S.B.!”

            S.B. looked at her, making eye contact. She tilted her head towards the Seekers, who were currently making circles around the entirety of the pitch in pursuit of the Golden Snitch. The Beater nodded in understanding and gripped his bat tighter as he prepared to swing at an incoming Bludger.

            The Golden Snitch had made a sudden turn upwards, right as S.B. managed to launch a Bludger in the direction of the Slytherin Seeker. While it didn’t hit him directly, he was thrown off by it zipping past him, and he missed the change in direction by a fraction of a second. Hope filled Zazzalil’s chest. Now, Evelyn, the Gryffindor Seeker, was closer to the Snitch than the Slytherin.

            Right as Evelyn reached out her hand to grab the Snitch, it suddenly curved back down, towards the ground. The Slytherin Seeker, having been behind, quickly took note of it returning back to him. In a flash, he snatched the ball out of the air and held it up triumphantly.

            “He’s done it! He’s done it! The Slytherin Seeker has caught the Golden Snitch, earning them 150 points! They’ve won the game!” the announcer yelled into the microphone. Around her, the deafening cheers of students, especially Slytherins, erupted and filled the stands. But to Zazzalil, their applause had all melted together into background noise. Gryffindor had lost the first game of the year. They actually lost. Defeated, Zazzalil sunk back down onto the bench and sulked as the cheering around her intensified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ Watch this please you will probably regret it](https://youtu.be/qVGvURo0omE)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> [Jo's Tumblr](https://j0ell0.tumblr.com/)  
> [Nyxa's Tumblr](https://silvernyxa.tumblr.com/)  
> [Something Unexpected Tumblr](https://something-unexpected-fic.tumblr.com/)  
> 


	3. Sunday, November 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an attempt to cheer her up after the previous day's Quidditch match loss, Keeri takes Zazzalil on a spontaneous trip to Hogsmeade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We had SO much fun writing this one!! It's a personal favorite chapter.

                                                               

          “Zazzalil. Hey, Zazz. Zazz!” Zazzalil’s groaned, her eyes blinking open at the sound of her name being called. Immediately, the bright morning streaming from the window blinded her, and she shut them again. “Get up, goddammit.”

          “Noooooo,” she protested, turning over in bed and pulling her pillow over her head. “I don’t wannaaaa.” Yesterday, after the Quidditch match, she’d gone straight to her dorm room and continued to work out different potion recipes until she passed out, surrounded by various textbooks and papers. Nothing like utter disappointment to really fuel one’s work ethic. In all seriousness, though, there was something calming about researching potion ingredients. Actually testing those recipes, however, was an entirely different story. It was a lengthy process of trial, error, and immense frustration.

          All of a sudden, the soft cushion covering her face was yanked away and she was once again met with the harsh light. Through it, Zazzalil could make out the blurry face of her fellow Gryffindor, Schwoopsie, peering down at her. In her hand, Zazzalil spied a glass of water and quickly leapt off of the bed.

          “Were you going to pour that on me?” Zazzalil demanded, accusingly.

          “Schwoopsie,” she replied with a grin, shrugging, and placed the glass of water back onto the nightstand. “Keeri told me to wake you up, she’s waiting outside of the common room.”

* * *

 

          Half an hour later, Zazzalil strolled alongside Keeri on their way to Hogsmeade.

          “Keeri, I still don’t see why we’re going here,” she grumbled, pulling her burgundy winter coat closer around herself. Now that it was November, the days were beginning to grow colder and Zazzalil found herself having to bundle up just to go to classes. Even underneath her scarf, coat, and robes, she still felt the cool autumn breeze that sent chills throughout her body. Keeri, meanwhile, didn’t seem fazed despite not having a coat. There was a light skip in her step as she hummed an unidentifiable tune. Knowing Keeri, it was probably a song by Spellbound or some other wizarding music group. Personally, Zazzalil preferred Muggle bands, but she didn’t get to listen to any too often, being at Hogwarts. “I’m like fucking broke, dude.”

          “That’s fine! I’ll pay,” she chirped in response, putting her soft crooning on hold. “We’re just going to hang out! Maybe grab a butterbeer, or something, at The Three Broomsticks. Besides, I figured you could use a little pick-me-up! It’ll be just the two of us!” Playfully, Keeri elbowed the shorter girl, who gave her a light shove back.

          “I guess,” Zazzalil replied, trailing off, still a little doubtful. She had been looking forward to an entire day of lazing around in bed, but, she supposed, hanging out with Keeri would be just as good. At least, this way, she wouldn’t be left to her own thoughts. Satisfied with her friend’s answer, Keeri resumed her humming as they entered the small town. Several other students of various years milled about the streets, chatting contentedly.

          Feeling a tug on her cloak, Zazzalil looked up at Keeri. “Come on! Let’s go to Gladrags first!” Taking her hand, the Hufflepuff pulled her off towards the clothing store. With their quirky products, not that many people shopped at Gladrags Wizardingwear on a regular basis. Like, who would want to actually wear screaming socks every day? It was more of a place to buy weird, joke gifts for friends. Still, Keeri and Zazzalil enjoyed going there every now and then to laugh at whatever bizarre new merchandise was released.

          As it was still early November, the quaint shop wasn’t overly populated when they arrived. Only two third-years, both Gryffindors, walked throughout the tables, pointing at different articles of clothing. Upon entering, Zazzalil’s eyes first landed on the front display table where Gladrags had apparently introduced a new line of novelty wizarding caps. They didn’t appear all that strange at first, save for the exotic patterns, until Keeri ran her fingers along the brim of one. In a puff of colorful smoke, feathers sprouted from the hat’s crown like a peacock showing off for a potential mate. Startled by the sudden appearance, Keeri jumped back as Zazzalil chuckled, amused.

          Turning away from Keeri, who was frantically trying to put the feathers back into the hat, Zazzalil scanned the rest of the store. Besides that one display, Gladrags was the same as it was a couple weeks ago. Well, almost the same. Out of the corner of her eye, Zazzalil spotted something she hadn’t seen in a Gladrags branch for probably around eight years. She ambled over to the table piled high with brightly colored socks and picked out one pair in particular. It was a brilliant, shimmering gold so vivid you could make it out from miles away. But, not only that, the design of a cat padded and pounced animatedly around the ankles. Back when the two of them were kids, Keeri had become obsessed with this sock design. It was fitting that she would. After all, she’d always been enamored with animals, and Care of Magical Creatures was her favorite subject at Hogwarts.

          

             Zazzalil and her parents had bought Keeri those same pair of socks for her seventh birthday and Keeri had _loved_ them. She wore them at every opportunity. Whenever laundry was done, those socks were always the first thing Keeri looked for.

          Unfortunately, much to Keeri’s dismay, one of the socks had gotten lost in their haste to pack up their belongings to go home at the end of their second year. Keeri had been devastated for a full month after that, and even now, she still feels a tad crestfallen whenever the thought of the sock came up. In memory of it, she still kept the remaining sock as a prized possession, but refused to wear it, claiming that the socks had to be worn as a pair because they were “soulmates”. Both of their families searched countless branches of the brand for another pair, but couldn’t find one anywhere. It had sadly become apparent that the design was discontinued by Gladrags.

          Now, as Keeri struggled to fix the hat, Zazzalil stared at the socks on the table. Could it be, after all these years, she had finally found the exact socks that Keeri had practically worshipped as a kid? Grinning to herself, she grabbed the socks, and slipped away unnoticed to the check-out so she could buy them. To her luck, thank Merlin, they only cost about five Sickles. Zazzalil doubted she could afford anything more than that, but even then, it’d have been a small price to pay for Keeri. She slid a handful of coins across the counter, and was given her purchase in exchange. Stowing the bag away inside her robes, Zazzalil walked back to Keeri. Hurriedly, before she could spot the socks too, Zazzalil grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door.

          “Let’s go to The Three Broomsticks now! I could use a some warm Butterbeer!”

          “Okay!” Keeri smiled cheerfully and allowed herself to be led out of the store.

* * *

 

          As Zazzalil started unraveling her Gryffindor scarf after they had stepped foot into the cozy pub, she gazed around the room. Of the people there, she only recognized a couple Ravenclaws in their year sitting together at a booth. Zazzalil remembered Keeri pointing them out to her earlier in the year, when they’d just begun dating, gushing about how they cute they were as a couple. She glanced over at Keeri to see if she had noticed, and sure enough, Keeri had spotted the two and waved to them excitedly.

          “Emberly, Grant, hi!”

          Across the pub, both Emberly and Grant looked up and returned Keeri’s greeting with a smile before turning back to whatever conversation they were having before.

          Soon, after a bit of struggling, Zazzalil had successfully managed to untangle herself from her many layers and started to walk towards an open table. She settled down at the table as Keeri went to grab their butterbeers and she breathed in the warm, comforting scent of the familiar pub. Ever since they’d first started going to Hogsmeade in their third year, The Three Broomsticks had become her and Keeri’s favorite place to hang out. But not just for the delicious beverages served. There was something about the pub that provided Zazzalil with a sort of sense of security and ease. Being there just always felt like...home. Many of her happiest memories could even be traced back to the small joint. Like her and some of her closest friends relaxing over Butterbeer after a stressful week of exams, or celebrating with Keeri once she made Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

          Keeri returned, carrying a mug of foaming hot butterbeer in each of her hands. After carefully setting them down, Keeri took her seat across the table from Zazzalil. Pulling one of the mugs towards her, Zazzalil took a sip of the warm butterscotch drink and smiled. Compared to after the game yesterday, she was feeling much better. Keeri really knew how to cheer her up.

          “Hey, Keeri?” she asked, softly. The Hufflepuff looked up at Zazzalil, wiping the Butterbeer off the top of her lip, and signaled for her to go on. “Thanks.”

          Keeri tilted her head in confusion. “For what?”

          “This,” Zazzalil paused, eyes flicking down to the wooden tabletop. “I know I can get pretty...well, uh, wrapped up in shit.”

          “Yeah, you can,” Keeri laughed quietly before shooting her best friend a warm smile, “You’re welcome.” They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, just sipping their Butterbeers, when Keeri spoke again, “Are you up for going to Honeydukes to get some candy after this?”

          Zazzalil grinned happily, “ _Hell_ yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [GIF](https://silvernyxa.tumblr.com/post/173664908704/cat-socks-a-lil-animation-for-chapter-three)   
>    
>  [Jo's Tumblr](https://j0ell0.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Nyxa's Tumblr](https://silvernyxa.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Something Unexpected Tumblr](https://something-unexpected-fic.tumblr.com/)   
> 


	4. Monday, November 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monday has arrived once again, and to all of the students' dismay, that means the start of yet another long week of boring classes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thanks to our friend, Paper (@[supermegafoxyawesomehawt](https://supermegafoxyawesomehawt.tumblr.com/)  
> on Tumblr), for helping us write part of this chapter!!

                                                       

             For some reason, after around five years of this, Zazzalil has not yet learned her lesson. Once again, she had woken up and instantly shot out of bed upon reading the face of the clock, which indicated it was ten minutes until the end of breakfast. Although, while she still hasn’t figured out how to wake up early, she has mastered the art of getting ready in a flash. After rolling out of bed, she had to quickly locate wherever the fuck her uniform was (usually on the floor) and throw it on. Oftentimes, she didn’t even bother to change out of her pajamas and was just able to cover them with her long, black robes. Today was one of those days. It’s not like anyone would notice, anyways. She could always go back up to her dorm room later, during a free period or lunch, to properly change. Next came rapidly brushing her teeth and hair all while tugging on her socks, then shoes. Once that was done, she could run (more like fall) down the steps of the Gryffindor common room and dash into the Great Hall. And that’s the step she was at now.

             Out of breath and panting heavily, Zazzalil reached the Great Hall with five minutes to spare. She quickly located Keeri sitting at their usual spot at the Hufflepuff table, and she flopped down next to her friend. Zazzalil grabbed some toast and eggs, making a quick breakfast sandwich, and took a bite out of it. As she chewed, she took the hair tie from around her wrist and quickly pulled her hair into her typical messy ponytail.

             Next to her, Keeri was finishing off the last of her orange juice while listening to another Hufflepuff describe the wild dream they had last night. Zazzalil was only able to catch a few words of the story. Something about Zac Efron and Headmaster Dumbledore? It made absolutely no sense whatsoever, but Keeri seemed to be dying from laughter, so she supposed it’d be funnier if she’d actually heard the whole story. Speaking of, that reminded her, she still had to force Keeri to watch _High School Musical_ with her. For some reason, Keeri has not yet watched the iconic movie trilogy featuring the one and only Zac Efron. Zazzalil made a quick mental note to make Keeri watch it with her once they were home for the holidays.

             Once the other student had finished their tale, Keeri turned towards Zazzalil, tears of laughter still in her eyes.

             “G’morning, Zazz,” she chuckled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “You missed the owls again. Your mom sent you a letter.” From her robes, she pulled a white envelope with “ZAZZALIL ARMSTRONG” written on the front in her mom’s messy scrawl. Ever since her first year, her mom has sent her a letter each week, checking up on her and whatnot. Well, more often than not, Keeri technically got the letter and then proceeded to pass it along to her.

             Zazzalil took the letter from Keeri and opened it, accidentally ripping the envelope as always. Her eyes quickly scanned over the parchment paper as Keeri peered over her shoulder. Most of the letter contained the typical stuff, although her mom also asked how the Quidditch match had gone. Upon reading that, Zazzalil let out an audible groan and jammed it back into the envelope, then into the pocket of her robes. Great. On the brightside, she was usually pretty forgiving about Zazzalil’s antics as long as it wasn’t extremely out of line.

             As the clock struck eight a.m., students began filing out of the Great Hall and heading towards their first classes. Hurriedly, Zazzalil scooped the remnants of her sandwich in a napkin and ran to catch up with Keeri who had already started walking away from the table.

* * *

             Twirling a stick between her gloved hands, Zazzalil watched the flower before her intently, only half-listening to whatever Sprout was lecturing them about. She’d only caught the introduction to the class’s activity, caring for Fanged Geraniums or something like that, before she became more interested in the magical flower and zoned out. Currently, her assigned plant was attempting to snap at the stick with its rows of sharp teeth.

             “Fuck,” she quietly cursed. Keeri had just elbowed her, drawing her attention fro just a moment away from the Geranium. It seized the opportunity and used the distraction as a chance to finally nip at her fingers. Thankfully, Zazzalil was able to swiftly draw her hand back in time before she lost any vital body parts and glared at her friend. “What the hell?”

             The taller girl said nothing and just tilted her head towards Sprout who was now pacing around the greenhouse as she talked, getting increasingly closer to the pair. Immediately, Zazzalil dropped the stick, which the Fanged Geranium gladly gobbled up, and tried her best to look as if she’d been listening the whole time.

             Professor Sprout looked at her with raised eyebrows, but didn’t make a move to call her out about it. “Alright now, get to work, class.”

             As soon as she said that, Zazzalil turned to Keeri. “Okay, so, what the fuck are we supposed to do?”

             “Zazz, why do you never pay attention?” Keeri asked, already starting to tend to her plant. It was clear from her tone that it was meant to be a rhetorical question. “You know this is going to be on the O.W.L.s, right?”

             “I dunno,” Zazzalil responded, watching Keeri’s actions and attempting to replicate them with her own Geranium. Somehow, she must’ve gotten it right because the plant stopped snapping at her hands whenever they got close to it. “I just can’t, y'know?”

             “Sure, Zazz,” Keeri said, sarcastically, and looked up from what she was doing, turning her attention to the Gryffindor. Her gaze shifted downward, to the now passive plant in front of Zazzalil. “What the heck, how? You weren’t even listening.”

             Zazzalil stared back at her friend with a somewhat smug expression on her face and looked back down at the Fanged Geranium, grinning.

* * *

             Yawning, Zazzalil drummed her fingers against the round Divination table as she did her best to follow Professor Trelawney’s ramblings. Quite frankly, though, she couldn’t care less about whatever the fuck her dreams meant. Half the time, she can’t even remember what happens in them. But, older students said Divination would be an easy class so here she was. They were mostly right. All the homework was just taking some shit she saw and then making it more dramatic. Thinking about candles? Write about how Hogwarts burned down in your dream journal. Simple.

             Really, the hardest part about the subject was having to endure over an hour of Trelawney’s lessons every other day. She would always talk about weird, “prophetic” shit like reading tea leaves or seeing visions. Zazzalil didn’t understand any of that crap, and quite frankly didn’t care, either. There were two kinds of people when it came to Trelawney. Most didn’t believe any of the bullshit she spewed, but there were a handful of students that hung on each and every word no matter how ridiculous.

             Zazzalil looked at Keeri for a moment before grabbing a piece of parchment out of her bag and scribbling a note, then sliding it across the table to the Hufflepuff.

_Would u rather-_

_Sit through 100 hours of Binns or 100 hours of this bullshit w T?_

             Keeri glanced at Zazzalil with a slight smile tugging at her lips, then began to write a response. _Depends on the day. Sometimes Trelawney lets us drink tea._

             Zazzalil grinned, shaking her head. Of course Keeri could find the good in Trelawney’s dumb classes.

_At least the ghost dude actually teaches us shit though._

             Keeri rolled her eyes slightly and leaned down to respond, but they both heard a annoyed huff come from behind them. It was Jemilla. Zazzalil turned around and gave her a look that clearly said, “What the hell are you looking at, smartass?”

             Jemilla turned to her brother, who was sitting beside her, to borrow a quill and quickly wrote something neatly on a scrap of parchment, then proceeded to hand it to Zazzalil with a condescending look.

_Stop passing notes, it's really distracting._

             Zazzalil glared quickly before scribbling a response.

_Hypocrite._

             She dropped the paper in front of Jemilla, then, without a second glance, turned back to Keeri, who was finishing up the last word of her note.

_But Trelawney knows stuff about divination, remember that one time she predicted that you would fall in love with a girl who’s name started with a ‘P’, then a few weeks later you started majorly crushing on this girl named Penelope?_

             Zazzalil smiled slightly, Keeri was, of course, right. She tended to be right at that sort of thing. Every now and then, Trelawney had a moment of clarity in which her predictions turned out to be correct. They never quite ended up the way you’d expect them to though. Instead of responding to Keeri’s last comment, Zazzail wrote, _Jemilla is pissing me off. She just gave me the fucking stink eye._

             Keeri frowned, shaking her head. Zazzalil was about to continue on, but a particular voice piped up from behind them. “Excuse me, Professor? Zazzalil and Keeri have been passing notes for the past fifteen minutes and it’s been very distracting to me and others sitting near them.”

             Jemilla. Of fucking course it was Jemilla who would call them out. Zazzalil felt a flash of anger and annoyance, but held her tongue. After the whole “losing the first Quidditch match of the year” ordeal, Zazzalil had been careful to avoid getting in too much trouble, and she knew that if she responded to Jemilla, it would only get increasingly worse for her.

             Professor Trelawney turned her head to face Zazzalil, with a look of distaste on her face. Zazzalil wasn’t very well liked by many of the professors, except maybe Flitwick. She was particularly good at Charms, though. Back when they were learning _Incendio_ , she was among the first to conjure up a stream of fire.

             “Ooooooh,” a handful of the other students called out.

             Another one in particular shouted “Exposed!” Zazzalil flushed red with embarrassment.

             “Ah, oh. Um, five points from the both of you,” It was clear that Trelawney wasn’t going to make it a big deal; it wasn’t often that she doled out punishments to students. But, it was more than enough to fuel the anger inside of Zazzalil.

             Zazzalil spun around to give Jemilla a death glare, to which Jemilla returned with a fake smile and a shrug of her shoulders. She then rotated in her seat towards Keeri, who had pointedly turned to face Trelawney, clearly not wanting to lose any more points. Rolling her eyes, Zazzalil followed Keeri’s lead and tried to listen to whatever the hell the nutso professor was going on about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Jo's Tumblr](https://j0ell0.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Nyxa's Tumblr](https://silvernyxa.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Something Unexpected Tumblr](https://something-unexpected-fic.tumblr.com/)   
> 


	5. Friday, November 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friday afternoon! Quidditch practice! Zazzalil's teammates are still a tad bit salty about Gryffindor's loss last weekend, one of them more than the others.

             Letting out a whoop, Zazzalil sprinted out onto the Castle Grounds dressed in her Gryffindor Quidditch uniform with her broom in tow. After another long week of boring ass classes, there was nothing better than to be able to feel the wind whipping past her as she whizzed through the air. The past seven days had been particularly rough, and Zazzalil was just looking forward to being able to let go. While Keeri found flying pretty anxiety-inducing, it was her way of releasing any pent-up stress over the past week. 

             Looking across the field, she saw that most of her teammates were already gathered in a circle, waiting for practice to start. Harley, one of her fellow Chasers, and Evelyn, Gryffindor’s Seeker, were sprawled on the grass leaning on one another as they talked. Meanwhile, the last Chaser, Ryan, was telling some sort of joke to Liam. Picking up her pace, Zazzalil made her way over to the group and plopped down onto the grass as well. She closed her eyes, taking in the afternoon sun. Surprisingly, it was actually fairly nice out; only a few puffy white clouds littered the sky. It was a major relief not to have to endure more cold ass weather, especially during Quidditch practice.

             “Hey, guys!” a voice greeted cheerfully. Zazzalil’s eyes snapped open to see a short, blond boy standing above her. 

             Zazzalil groaned inwardly hearing Chad, and she knew most of her teammates felt the same way. None of them had anything against Chadley, he’s a great kid, but, to put it bluntly, just not that good at Quidditch. He had tried out for the team in his second year, for only Merlin knows why, and even though he could barely get the ball through the hoop, Liam still let him on the team as a backup player. Zazzalil assumed it was so that Gryffindor could still compete in matches, if one of their main players couldn’t participate for whatever reason. A lot of good that did them, considering the loss they suffered last game due to Zazzalil not playing. On the bright side, it wasn’t often that they were a player down, so Chad had just become somewhat of a cheerleader (and comic relief).

             “What’s up?” Chad looked between his teammates, smiling. Even if he didn’t particularly excel at athletics, the kid was always happily beaming. Zazzalil was honestly surprised the hat didn’t sort him into Hufflepuff. 

             “Just waiting for S.B. and Aaron now,” Evelyn answered, looking away from her girlfriend and up at the fourth year. “They should be here soon.”

             Sure enough, in a couple of moments, the two Beaters came jogging over from the castle with their brooms and bats in hand. Getting up from the ground, the team huddled in a circle and waited for Liam to speak.

             “Alright, guys. So as you all know, we lost last week,” Zazzalil averted her eyes guiltily. “But, our next game’s not until March. So, let’s try not to get into any trouble, okay? I cannot stress this enough.” Liam paused for a moment, staring directly at Zazzalil. Her other teammates followed suit. Although nobody explicitly said anything, they all knew who he was referring to. 

             “Geez, okay, I won’t,” Zazzalil muttered, putting up her hands in defense. 

             “We’ve got four months, y’all. As long as we work hard, we can still pull this back and win the Cup. So here’s what we’ve got to work on…” 

             Seeing as she hadn’t played last week, Zazzalil figured she didn’t have to listen and tuned him out. She instead looked over at S.B.. The past week, she strangely hadn’t seen much of him outside of classes. Meeting his eyes, Zazzalil wiggled her eyebrows at him. But, S.B. just looked away with pursed lips.

             Zazzalil frowned. Normally, S.B. would’ve done the same, making weird expressions too. Hell, the two of them were infamous for always screwing around during practice. There was no doubt in her mind that he was still pissed about the game, but fuck man. She’d thought that after a week, he’d have forgiven her by now. Sure, she totally deserved the cold shoulder. After all, she was the one that costed Gryffindor their first win of the year. Underneath his cool, nonchalant exterior, Zazz knew that Liam was especially pissed. Being a seventh year, this was his last Quidditch Tournament ever, so he was especially eager to win. But, she still longed to be able to joke around with S.B. again, no matter how justified his snub was. Quidditch practice just didn’t feel the same without their goofy antics. 

             Feeling someone jab her in the arm, Zazzalil snapped back to reality. 

             “Come on, dumbass. We’re starting now,” Harley said, gesturing to the sky where the team was gathering. Getting on her broom, Harley kicked off the ground and zoomed to join them. Zazzalil stood there for for a second, still coming to her senses, before mounting her own broom and taking off into the air.

             Immediately, Liam sent them off to practice weaving through the pillars of the stone wall that surrounded the training grounds while passing the quaffle back and forth.

             The players leaned forward, racing through the sky as Liam first passed the quaffle to Aaron. He fumbled to catch it, not being as experienced with it as the others were. According to Liam’s philosophy, all them had to be accustomed to each Quidditch position even if they didn’t play it themselves. Something about being able to “work better as a team.”

             Once he had a good handle on the ball, Aaron lobbed it over to Harley, who caught it with ease. Zazzalil, meanwhile, sped up to fly alongside S.B. Noticing her approaching, S.B. accelerated as well. Briefly hurt by his avoidance, Zazzalil nearly missed the quaffle hurtling towards her.

             “Get your head in the game, Zazz!” Liam shouted at her from ahead. She scowled, and hurled it over to Ryan. 

 

* * *

 

             “Okay, I’m gonna divide you guys up into teams now and we’ll play a little game,” Liam’s eyes scanned across the row of players until they stopped at Zazzalil, Evelyn, Chad, and S.B. and gestured to them. “You four are on a team. Aaron, Ryan, Harley, you’ll be playing against them. We’ll see which side has the ball after twenty  minutes.”

             The two teams squared up, facing one another. Zazzalil glanced to her right, where S.B. was positioned on his broom, clearly doing his best to not make eye contact with her. Well, fuck, this was going to be a problem. 

             Liam tossed the quaffle high into the air, signaling the start of their match. Instantly, Harley rushed forward on her broom and took hold of the ball. The small brunette then quickly pulled vertically up into the sky, dodging the opposing team. 

             Suddenly, a flash of gold whizzed by Harley, so quick that she had to take a moment to recover. Once she did, she soon became aware of the absence of the quaffle in her hands. Zazzalil grinned, watching Evelyn bolt away, her golden blonde hair streaming behind her. Of course, being a Seeker, Evelyn was the fastest among them. 

             “Baaabe,” Harley pouted, before she smirked and rejoined the action. 

             Narrowly avoiding Ryan’s hands, Evelyn tossed the quaffle behind her to Zazzalil. She tucked it firmly under her arm, and began dashing around while the others followed in pursuit.

_              Whoosh.  _

             Luckily, Zazzalil heard the metal ball zooming towards her, just a moment before it would strike. Liam had released a bludger. Dodging a little clumsily, Zazzalil fumbled with the quaffle in her hands. Aaron took advantage of this and dashed towards her, seizing the ball and zipping away quickly before she could counter him. 

             The bludger swiftly changed directions, now trained on Aaron. As it flew by his head, Aaron swung at it with his bat, successfully sending it in the other direction. In the process of that, though, he had accidentally dropped the quaffle.

             “I got it!” Zazzalil called out to the others, angling her broom towards the ground to catch the falling ball. But S.B. ignored her, aiming to grab it as well. The both of them nearly collided, and had to swerve to avoid falling off their brooms. Meanwhile, Ryan managed to recapture the quaffle for his team.

             “Fucking hell, I said I got it!” Zazzalil barked at her friend. 

             “Yeah, but you probably would’ve just let your team down again,” S.B. replied coldly, before racing after Ryan. Zazzalil growled softly, preparing to head back in too before Evelyn grabbed the sleeve of her robe.

             “What the heck is up between you two,” she snapped harshly. Zazzalil opened her mouth to speak, but was dumbfounded by the girl’s tone. Normally, Evelyn was the sweetest among the team (along with Chad). She rarely ever raised her voice, or anything of the sorts. On the rare occasion that she did, you knew you had to shut up and listen. “You guys are always partners in crime, but that? That was an absolute mess, full offense. At this rate, we’ll lose the second match too. Sort out your shit, Zazz.” 

             Without waiting for Zazzalil to reply, Evelyn then flew off towards whoever had the Quaffle at the moment. 

 

* * *

 

             To nobody’s surprise, Harley, Ryan, and Aaron ended up winning. In retrospect, it was inevitable. For starters, they had Chad on their side, but with the added tension between Zazzalil and S.B., they were bound to lose. Evelyn was, really, the only functional member on their team. To be quite honest, though, she was pretty much always the most composed person among the group, along with Liam. 

             As the team was packing up for the day, Zazzalil approached S.B. and plopped down onto the grass across from him. He looked up, before wordlessly going back to polishing his broom.

             “Look, you can ignore me all you want, I don’t blame you…I know that this means a lot to you, it does to me too! I justーI should’ve thought about that before I fucked up. So yeah, sorry man.”

             A heavy silence fell upon them after Zazzalil finished, and she was about to go, before S.B. spoke up. 

             “You  _ did  _ fuck up pretty badly, huh.”

             “Wait, what?”

             “You fucked up but...it’s cool. We’re cool. I forgive you.”

             A grin spread across Zazzalil’s face. “Really?”

             “Yeah...I was being kinda dumb for being mad that long and honestly, it’s a wonder how I haven’t been caught yet for all the shit I do.”

             “Heh, yeah...good. Good.” she nodded, still smiling. “So, uh, I’ve got a couple stink pellets with me. Do you maybe wanna…” Tilting her head, Zazzalil motioned towards Liam, who was busy putting away the equipment. 

             S.B. quickly picked up on what she meant and snickered. “You fucking betcha.”


	6. Tuesday, November 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zazzalil recalls the moment she decided to start creating potions, and decides to propose a challenge to Jemilla.

             Zazzalil stared with unfocused eyes at Snape as he poured the contents of various glass containers into the large cauldron in front of him, occasionally using a wooden spoon to stir the concoction. In her mind, his dull, toneless words blurred together to form a string of random, incomprehensible sounds. Nothing he was saying was reaching her, not that she cared or would retain any of the information anyways. If needed for a test, she could just look up the recipes later, like always, and memorize them. 

             The past four years Zazzalil had been lucky enough that the Gryffindors had had double Potions lessons with Hufflepuff. So Snape’s lectures had been somewhat bearable, given that Keeri was always there to keep her company. But this year was different, now that Gryffindor was paired with Ravenclaw for Potions class instead. Without anybody to talk to, the time seemed to crawl by even slower than before. Sure, S.B. was in the class too, but he always sat with his “family” (some of his dorm mates) who Zazzalil was not all that fond of. There’s something about a group of rambunctious teen-aged boys that was somewhat off-putting. If she was being honest here, Zazzalil much prefers girls. There were a few people in Ravenclaw she did know, but she wasn’t all that close to them. And as a result of always sitting with the Hufflepuffs at meals, Zazzalil didn’t have many close friends in Gryffindor.

             Thus, she was left to her own devices. Let it be known that a bored Zazzalil, lack of impulse-control, and a pile of various magical ingredients is a very bad combination that should never be encountered by anyone. Back in September, during one of Snape’s demonstrations, she’d been feeling particularly bored. Honestly, who even has the patience, let alone the time, to  _ actually _ follow every single step to making a potion. In a split second decision, Zazzalil had dumped all the ingredients before her into the cauldron’s boiling water. The same ingredients are going into the cauldron anyways. It’s just potions, what could go wrong? 

             The answer is everything. Everything could go wrong. After sizzling for a hot second, with her tablemates staring at her with gaping mouths, her cauldron had proceeded to, quite literally, melt. Zazzalil wishes she could make this up. It sure as hell would’ve saved her from Snape.

             Straightaway, he had taken notice of the cloud of smoke steadily rising up from the pile of melted iron and with a dramatic sweep of his cloak, he turned towards her. Shit.

             “What is the meaning of this, Armstrong?” he had demanded, as if it weren’t obvious enough. Zazzalil clearly remembers the pile of metal had started to ooze and drip off of the table at that point, and Snape staring down at her with very a disapproving, condescending expression.

             As expected, she got a hell of a talking-to, as well as the deduction of house points. While short-lived, her brief act of rebellion was pretty fun, and it was what sparked her thing for potions.

             Immediately after leaving the classroom, Zazzalil became determined to discover different ways to brew potions that were faster and more efficient. She admits, the whole “dumping everything into the cauldron and hoping for the best” strategy may have been a tad bit reckless but she stands by the philosophy behind it. Literally nobody has the time or patience to follow these old-ass recipes. Surely, there’s gotta be some other way to go about brewing potions. And, Zazzalil decided, she’d be the one to discover them. It was gonna be a lot of work, but if she was able to accomplish it, then it’d be totally worth it and future generations would thank her for not having to completely waste their time doing useless shit. 

* * *

 

             Zazzalil sat in the Great Hall, munching on some snacks the house elves in the kitchen had given her earlier. S.B. had figured out how to get into the kitchens in his second year, and had eagerly told Zazzalil about his discovery. The two of them often nicked food from there whenever they were hungry or bored. Keeri and Schwoopsie sat across from her, both hunched over a book that Keeri had picked up from the library earlier. 

             Despite being in separate houses, Keeri and Schwoopsie had formed a sort-of friendship at the start of the year after being stuck in the same car on the train. Zazzalil had been sitting with them, but she didn’t engage in any conversation. She and Schwoopsie didn’t really have much in common, except for being in Gryffindor house. Keeri and Schwoopsie didn’t often hang out together either, but this happened to be one of the few times they did.

             Zazzalil was only half listening to what the pair were talking about, but after a short while she noticed that they had pulled out a different book and the conversation had shifted. She listened a little more carefully, to see if the topic interested her. After picking up the word “duel”, something clicked in her brain. 

             “That’s it!” Zazzalil suddenly burst out, her face lighting up. They both turned to look at her, confused by her outburst. They sat there silently, waiting for her to explain. “A duel!”

             Schwoopsie snorted. “Yeah, what about them?”

             “I’ll duel Jemilla! And then that’ll settle it once and for all!” she elaborated enthusiastically, spreading her arms to make a point, one accidentally knocking over an empty glass.

             “Okay, Zazz, but duels are sorta against the rules.” Keeri cautioned, “You could get hurt, which is  _ why _ it’s against the rules. You can’t just call for an illegal duel with a prefect!”

             “Yeah, we were literally just talking about how shitty some duels ended.” Schwoopsie added in agreement. “I’m always up for a good show but I mean like… is it really worth it, man?”

             Zazzalil had already begun backing away from the two of them, a determined look on her face. “Too late!” she replied with a grin, shrugging. “Already doing it and you can’t stop me!” 

             After sending finger-guns towards them, she dashed off to go find Jemilla. 

* * *

 

             Finding Jemilla in a giant castle proved to be harder than she thought it would. Damn, Zazzalil really did not think this through. She was just about to give up when she spotted a familiar  head of curly, dark brown hair sitting in the courtyard with a couple other Hufflepuffs. Score.

             “Hey, Paxton!” Zazzalil let a bit of annoyance seep into her tone as she stormed over.

             “Armstrong. What are you doing?” Jemilla looked up from her conversation to meet Zazzalil’s gaze.

             “A duel. I challenge you to a duel.”

             With a sigh, Jemilla stood up, bidding farewell to her friends, and slung her arm around Zazzalil, leading her away. Zazzalil immediately shook off her arm, glare intensifying.

             “Duels are against the rules.” Jemilla’s patient voice sounded as if she were explaining something to a small child. This only fueled Zazzalil’s annoyance.

             “Yes, obviously, I know. Do you think I’m stupid?”

             Jemilla smiled slightly in a way that made Zazzalil uncomfortable. “Do you really want to know the answer to that, Armstrong?”

             Zazzalil let out an angry huff, but didn’t respond to the question. She instead went back on her original reason for finding the Huffleuff. “Paxton. Do you accept my challenge or are you too afraid that I’ll be better than the perfect prefect?”

             After a moment's hesitation, Jemilla surprisingly responded, “I accept. This Sunday, 11:00 PM, and you can choose the location.” 

             Zazzalil’s eyebrows shot up. She had expected to have to try a lot harder to convince Jemilla to accept. Well, less effort on her part, so that’s always good.  Luckily, while she was searching for Jemilla, she had run many scenarios of the duel through her head, and location that she concluded would be the most convenient was the Quidditch field. No one would be patrolling there, so the chances of getting caught were significantly lower, and it was a familiar location, which would play out in Zazzalil’s favor. She quickly explained this (excluding the part about it being in Zazzalil’s favor) to Jemilla, who agreed to meet on the Quidditch field.

             It was settled, then. They would duel. 


	7. Saturday, November 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zazzalil prepares for the duel.

             “You sure you wanna do this? There’s still time to back out…,” Keeri tried again, her hands pausing momentarily. She was sat on the grass of the Training Grounds, observing Zazzalil as she knitted some sweater for somebody’s cat. While she didn’t personally have any pets herself, Keeri cared for everybody else’s as if they were her own. She was somewhat known throughout the entire school for befriending every single animal that she encountered. It was pretty endearing to see a random owl fly up to her, and for her to immediately know its name. If it weren’t for her parents, who weren’t too fond of animals, Keeri would probably have own a zoo.

             When the both of them were 8, Keeri had practically lived at Zazzalil’s house. One of their neighbors’ dogs had recently given birth to a litter of Chesapeake Bay Retriever puppies. It was about a month after Zazzalil’s dad had passed away, so her mom thought it was the perfect opportunity to try to cheer up her daughter.

             The puppy, dubbed ‘Captain Inferno’, actually really did help with the loss. Nearly every day, Keeri would come over and the two of them would just play with him all day. It was comforting, in a way, and definitely took Zazzalil’s mind off of the accident. Not to mention, Keeri’s parents grew somewhat more tolerant of Captain Inferno, and other animals, over time.

             A couple feet away, the aforementioned Gryffindor was pacing around with her wand gripped tightly in her hand. Keeri set aside the two metal needles and bundle of yarn. “The duel isn’t until tomorrow.”

             “Yes, I’m sure! And if I back out, then I’ll look like a fucking wuss and Jemilla would win and we cannot let that happen!” Turning suddenly, Zazzalil pointed her wand at one of the dummies that the school provided for students to practice their spellwork. Sharply, she barked out a ‘ _Stupefy’_ and a bright red flash was emitted from the tip of her wand. Keeri flinched slightly at the suddenness of the charm colliding with the dummy, which sent it flying backwards onto the grassy field.

             Huffing, Zazzalil watched as the dummy was magically reset back to its upright position before facing Keeri again. She crossed the distance between the two and sat down besides the Hufflepuff, her grip on her wand loosening.

             “If you didn’t challenge her in the first place, then you wouldn’t ‘look like a fucking wuss’ and Jemilla wouldn’t win. I did advise against this...there’s just too many things that could go wrong. You two could get in trouble. Or extremely hurt, even. There’s not going to be any professors to make sure that doesn’t happen!”

             “Okay, well, there’s no going back now, Keeri. Yeah, there’s the slight possibility of one of us dying, but that’s why you’re gonna be my second!” Zazzalil shot her a confident smile.

             “...So I can take over if you die?”

             “Yeah, that, but also for moral support too!”

             Keeri sighed. It became clear that she wouldn’t get Zazzalil to change her mind...as if she was able to any other time. “Why don’t you ask S.B.? He’s better at cheering than I am. I’m sure he’ll be more than willing to accompany you on your illegal midnight dueling trip.”

             “You’ve been there for me my entire life, though! And now you’re gonna be with me for this duel!” Grabbing both of Keeri’s hands, Zazzalil looked directly at her and put on her best puppy-dog eyes. “Pwease, Keerwi?”

             A slight smile tugged at Keeri’s lips, hearing her friend’s baby voice. “Fine.”

             “Yay! Tank wu Keerwi!”

             “Stop talking like that! Or I won’t be your second anymore!” Keeri let go of Zazzalil’s hands, trying to put on a look of frustration, failing miserably due to the laughter threatening to spill out.

             “You mwean wike dis?” Jokingly, Zazzalil draped her arms over Keeri and stuck out her bottom lip in a pout.

             “Yes, like that, Zazz.” she chuckled, and shoved Zazzalil off of her. “Stop it and go practice your spells. If I can’t stop you from dueling, you might as well be prepared.” Keeri gestured to the dummy standing a few yards away.

             Laughing, Zazzalil got up and brushed the grass off of her robes. She aimed her wand at the dummy and fired another spell at it. This one she did without speaking, so it had less of an effect on the dummy.

             In her fourth year, Zazzalil had started to try using silent spells. She usually picked up on the stuff they learned in Charms pretty fast, leading to a pretty boring class period while Professor Flitwick helped the other students. He had once suggested for her to help out too, but she always struggled to put her actions into words. Her explanations basically consisted of ‘I don’t know what to tell you, man. You just wave your wand like this, say the words, and bam.’ Obviously, nobody found that very helpful. It had always just come so naturally for her, and she never understood why it was so difficult for everyone else. So, to pass the time, she attempted nonverbal spells.

             In the beginning, her attempts had been pretty futile. No matter how hard she concentrated, Zazzalil couldn’t get any of the spells she tried to work. Which made sense, really, since she wasn’t supposed to be learning how to do spells without having to say the incantation until her sixth year.

             But, after a long while, Zazzalil started to get the hang of them. The classes she never paid attention in became the classes that she would practice performing spells silently. Well, the ones that wouldn’t draw any attention to herself like the Levitation Charm, or the Unlocking Charm. Flitwick once noticed her attempting them in one of his classes, and gave her a few pointers.

             Now, simple charms, hexes, and jinxes came to her with ease. Most of the spells from her previous years she had down pat. (Those that she learned more recently were still a work-in-progress).

             From the sidelines, Keeri applauded her spellwork and Zazzalil faced her with a grin. Taking the sides of her robes in her hands, she curtsied dramatically before once again focusing on her practice.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is being posted barely before the deadline, schwoopsie!  
> It's kinda boring, the dog stuff was random, just trying to meet 1000 words at this point :)  
> Next chapter may or may not be better, who knows tbh. (It probably will be).  
> -nyxa


End file.
